4.3 General Adapters
CHPS is able to add external models listed on the previous page by using the General Adapter module.
The General Adapter exchanges data with models and executes the models. Since the data formats used in external models may not be in the same format as CHPS typically uses, think of the General Adapter as the “translator” for external models.
Communication between the General Adapter and a model is established through the published interface (PI), an XML-based data interchange format file.
Example: A General Adapter "translates" the data for the external model HEC-RAS.
The Process
The following is a brief description of how data is taken from a CHPS data directory, put through an external model, and eventually displayed in the Interactive Forecast Display (IFD).
- The General Adapter provides the data required for a module to run in the PI format.
- A module adapter then translates the data from the PI to the model’s native format.
- The module adapter exports the results to the PI format.
- The General Adapter imports the data back into CHPS in PI format.
- Data is made available to the FEWS IFD.